


and they were roommates

by boy1dr



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M, Polyamory, Tim has a cat, Trans Dick Grayson, Trans Tim Drake, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 14:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boy1dr/pseuds/boy1dr
Summary: Tim Drake is not a homophobe. He's pretty sure. So why does he feel so weird in his stomach about his extremely gay roommate?Based on the guy on Reddit who didn't mind his roommate kissing guys....so long as the guy was him.





	and they were roommates

**Author's Note:**

  * For [timberlydrake_wayne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/timberlydrake_wayne/gifts).



> Happy belated birthday to the love of my life! I hope you're having a wonderful day today and always, Timtam <3

Tim pulls at his shirt to straighten it, in an attempt to look like a person who owns an iron.

“Yeah, Steph,” he says into his phone. “I’m meeting him in, like, thirty seconds. He seems like a pretty decent guy from the emails.”

“Oh, well if he seems like a decent guy from  _emails_. Doesn’t he have a Facebook like a normal human being?”

Tim can hear Steph’s eyeroll over the phone.

“He says that’s, and I quote, ‘not how he prefers first impressions to go down.’ You’re one to talk, seeing as all you’ve done since you got  _your_ housing assignment is

“I mean, he’s a junior. Living on campus. At Gotham U. Nobody actually lives on campus who can help it. Isn’t that at least a little weird?”

“We have our own rooms and everything--”   
  
“Right, forgot your daddy bribed you into the suites.”

“It’s a shared living area,  _Stephanie._ Go back to staring at pictures of that ballerina you’re rooming with like you’ve been doing for the past….how long have you had her Facebook?”   
  
Stephanie sputters. “I’m gay and she’s pretty,  _Timothy._ ”

“And you’re useless with girls. And boys. I should know. I mean,  _I_   had to make the first move. I don’t make…moves.”

“And look how well that turned out,” Steph says.

“Stephanie. I turned to you in my hour of need. And this is how you treat me?”

Steph sighs. “You’re standing in front of the door like an idiot, aren’t you?”

“I’m standing in front of the door like an idiot.”

“I’m hanging up on you, Timbo. Go be a big boy and meet your roommate.”

“But he’s a junior and he seems so  _chill_ and I have social anxiety.”

He hears the beep to signal that Stephanie has, in fact, hung up on him. He straightens his shirt one more time, sighs, and unlocks the door.

The person in the living room is not so much sitting on the couch as he is draped over it. His shockingly red hair is pulled back into a bun, and Tim isn’t entirely sure of the intended gender of his top. For that matter, he’s not sure of the intended gender of...him? Her? Them?

“‘Sup, fresh meat?” The human on the couch smirks and winks a heavily-lined eye.

“Roy!” a voice calls out from the bedroom. “Stop harassing the roommate!”

“I’m so sorry,” says the voice he assumes belongs to his actual roommate. “He’s not usually...no that’s a lie, he’s always like this; I just lost track of time and this lug is  _supposed_ to be helping me move in, but apparently he’s allergic to hanging fairy lights and so he’s just been sitting on the couch and  _flirting,_ which we do not do with our friends’ roommates, especially the freshmen!”

The man who rushes into the room and drapes a rainbow tie-dye blanket over Roy’s face is also wearing eyeliner, and also has his hair pulled back, but all in all the look is much less...sensuous? Is that a word he’s using to describe people now? Than it is on Roy. He just looks kind of harried. Don’t get Tim wrong, his cheekbones could absolutely cut diamonds, but compared to the flirt on the couch, he looks less artfully debauched and more practical. There’s blue and white fairy lights draped over his shoulders and….oh my god.

“Richie Grayson-Wayne?”

Richie freezes. “Oh god. Please don’t….Timothy? Little Timothy Drake?”

Tim takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I think that this is the point where we swear to forget any awkward social interactions at our respective parents’ galas and pretend that we’re normal human beings without trust funds. The name is Tim and I am an adult.”

Richie sticks out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Tim. I’m Dick.”

Tim looks at him long and hard, trying to figure out if he’s being punk’d. Is Ashton Kutcher in the closet?

“He’s for real,” Roy says, voice muffled by the blanket over his head. “He’s got enough BDE that it almost works.”

Dick tightens the blanket around Roy’s neck.

Roy groans. “Harder, baby!”

Dick's cheeks go bright scarlet. 

"That’s it! Out of my house!” He pulls Roy out of the house by the blanket around his neck and whips it off as he throws him out the door. “Goodbye.” He turns back to Tim. “I am so, so, sorry for….everything.”

Tim is so far beyond stressed at this point.

“I’m, uh, going to move in now,” he says, gesturing to the door, outside of which is his car full of stuff.

“Yes. Good,” Richi--Dick says. “You should do that.” He flashes a blindingly white smile. “Need help?”

“I...I think I’m good.”

“Holler if you need me.” He salutes with two fingers, then turns around and walks into his room.

Tim is ten pounds of uncomfortable in a five pound bag, and the roiling feeling in his stomach only gets worse as he watches Dick leave. The man must do a lot of squats, he muses idly.

What kind of bacchanalia has he gotten himself into?

#####

“Steph?” Tim says that night as he flops into his bed. “Something is seriously off about this room.”

“I don’t see what there is to complain about. I thought you enjoyed dens of queer chaos.”

“I don’t...not?” Tim says. “I don’t know. I think my toxic masculinity is showing.”   
  
“Honey, you don’t know the meaning of the word.”   
  
“He is gay. Like, really really gay. And I am really, really uncomfortable.”

“You can’t be homophobic! You were a lesbian for like a month when we were six! You’re just scared he’s one of those cis gays who’s going to be a freak to you if he finds out.”   
  
“I don’t think he will? I am pretty sure the guy here today transcends gender. So why does my stomach hurt?”   
  
“Timothy Jackson Drake, you are not a homophobe. You have new-roommate jitters, you’re rooming with a queer disaster, and you’re fixating on the queer aspect instead of the disaster.”

Tim groans. “Fine. So how’s  _your_ roommate?”

Steph sighs rapturously. “She does stretches. Multiple times a day. In leotards.”

“And now I’m uncomfortable again!”

“Fine. You’re a big old homophobe. Get your self-flagellation out of the way now so I don’t have to deal with it for the rest of the semester. Build a bridge and get over it.”

“This doesn’t feel better,” Tim says.

“Anyway, my roommate is beautiful and I’m going to die. Your roommate has seen you in braces and those...glasses...and that whole awkward phase while he was already a sex god of Gotham.”

“Can we refrain from calling my roommate a…..” Tim groans louder. “You know what? How do you feel about classes tomorrow?”

“Can I steal your books for Intro to Philosophy?”

“Yeah, I’ll text you my login to the ebook. I like paper better anyway.”

And that’s it. They talk about classes. And Tim tries to ignore the place that Dick’s grin lodges in his chest and how it makes his stomach feel very, very weird. It’s not a crime to feel uncomfortable with your roommate. Even a queer roommate. He likes Dick. He really does. He shoves down the feeling in his stomach. Everything is going to be fine.

 


End file.
